A Vietnamese woman has been rescued from a brothel in Dubai after a group of criminals kept her there against her will and forced her into sex work, an official from the Vietnamese embassy in the United Arab Emirates told news website VnExpress on Tuesday.

Nguyen Thanh Quang, the first secretary of the Vietnamese embassy in the UAE said it is working with local police to bring the woman home.

The embassy was informed by some Vietnamese in the country on June 26 that the woman, known as Nguyen, was being detained, beaten and forced into prostitution by a group of Vietnamese criminals.

The embassy then sought help from local police.

The police raided the brothel and arrested 11 people, including four Vietnamese men.

After being rescued, Nguyen told the police she was lured to travel to Dubai for a week by an acquaintance named Linh.

After she arrived in Dubai on a tourist visa, the Vietnamese criminals detained her, took her passport and forced her to do sex work in an apartment.

The embassy said there has recently been an increase in the number of Vietnamese women who forced into prostitution in Dubai. Most of the other victims were promised well-paid jobs.

After they arrived in Dubai, they were forced to into prostitution, according to the embassy.